If you lost your cat or dog you might want to look in Ohio Stadium. The rain was steady at kick-off. By Halftime, it resembled the 'bad seat' in one of those circular vessel water rides at Kings Island. The only thing that was raining harder - the Ohio State defensive line.

The Silver Bullet defense administered their second shutout in as many weeks as the Buckeye's physically dominated the Illini 30-0. Before the game, the Illini tried their best to imtimidate the Buckeyes at mid-field. The party was short-lived. There would be no Block-O stomping from the opposition on this day. Illinois had 2 weeks to prepare, but had no answer against Ohio State's front-line. Thadeous Gibson broke out with 3 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and 1 sack. In the final three quarters, Thad's NFL stock soared as he looked unstoppable, beating OT's with crippling bull-rushes, and running down a speedy Juice WIlliams and Co. from the back-side. Even Musberger chimed in saying, "I know it appears as if there's more than one #90 out there folks, but there's only one". I thought I was watching Lawrence Taylor in an old Tecmo Bowl tournament.

Now, I'm not sure if the Cleveland Browns stadium even has a 'B' Deck, but here's the 'B' Deck report none-the-less. I do know that I had fantastic seats, just behind the bar, 5 feet from a gigantic flat-screen.

Ohio State played a virtual home game in Cleveland Saturday as they pasted the Toledo Rockets 38-0. Terrelle Pryor ran for 110 yards and threw for another 262. Pryor had 4 touchdowns(3 pass 1 rush) on day. Toledo product Dane Sanzenbacher gave his former hometown team nightmares as the sophmore hauled in a 76 yard bomb from Pyror to open the scoring. Sanzenbacher finished with 7 grabs for 126 yards(career high). Devier Posey had 5 catches and Saine, Carter, and Small had 2 each.

Warning - the following content could be viewed as an irrational, fanatical, knee-jerk reaction to, yet another, painful loss.

Surprise. Ohio State isn’t as lowly as everyone thought. Despite the results, which only add fuel to the fire in terms of Ohio State’s inability to win the big one, Ohio State earned some respect on Saturday. We’ll revisit this subject after the season while we gaze at Navy and USC’s combined 21-22 win total. Heck, we might revisit it this weekend after the Pitt/Navy gm. Note these 2 scores as well - Wk 1, LaTech 13 Auburn 37.... Wk 2 LaTech 14 Navy 32.

I was riding down the road here in Chattanooga yesterday. It was just two days after another back-breaking loss to a top 5 team. As I approached the Range Rover in the lane next to me I noticed the Ohio State spare-tire cover, the OSU magnet, and the Ohio State license plate cover. We made eye contact and I gave him the ole' 'O-H' hand signal. He just kind of pointed at me with this dead serious face and gave me a stern thumbs up.

Don't be down OSU fans! That was a well played game by a young team that remains among the Nations elite. Ohio State may have lost 18-15 on the scoreboard, but they proved that they could beat that team. Mark May's' 3+Td prediction looks a little silly today.

OLGone are Ben Person, Alex Boone, and Steve Rehring. Let's be honest, Rehring and Boone weren't the most agile guys on the roster. Boone never lived up to his 5star billing. Appearantly, a steady diet of Adriaticos pizza(he told me that was his favorite) and beer doesn't help you block the edge. He and Rehring were effective in the running game but struggled in pass protection. Person may be gone, but in comes Michigan transfer Justin Boren, who appears to be an upgrade over Person and Rehring. Boren instantly becomes the strongest lineman. He brings the nasty on every play. Bryant Browning had started at RT last year but has now been moved to his more natural position at RG. Browning has exceeded expectations. He didn't come in as a highly touted recruit and also arrived at a hefty 365. He's shed about 55 pounds since arriving on campus and was singled out by Tressel(along with Brewster) as an OL that has really stepped up in camp this year. Browning gets better every snap and should be a solid contributor this season.Everyone expects Mike Brewster to be improved after being thrust into a starting role as a true freshman. He looks like the next great Center to come out of Ohio State(datish/mangold etc). Jim Cordle(6'4" 300) starts at his third position in as many years. The former ambidextrous Center was moved to guard last season and now moves out to RT for his senior campaign. I feel comfortable with Cordle at RT as he has the size, agility, and experience to play the position. The biggest question mark has been at left tackle. Most fans anticipated that the job would go to Mike Adams(6'7" 310), a local product who was ranked as a top 3 OL by the two major recruiting sites. For one reason or another Adams has been taking reps with the third string while fellow Sophmore J.B. Shugarts and Senior upstart Andy Miller fight it out for the starting spot. Miller, a converted tight-end, weighs in around 285. That's a bit small for a tackle, but it is clear that Jim Bollman is putting a premium on pass protection. Miller is stronger than he looks and has held his own against all the great defensive ends in camp. J.B. Shugarts is another converted tight-end(in HS). Shugarts is big(6'8" 295) and will push Miller for time all season. Either player could land the starting role by week 3. TE Jake Ballard is on the preseason Mackey Award watch list.